tech2 News StaffApr 01, 2019 22:29:05 IST
Social media giants like Facebook are responsible for keeping the online community safe while giving people freedom to express their opinion. In order to ensure that happens, Facebook is planning to set up an ‘Oversight Board’ which will be authorised to review some of its most challenging and contentious content decisions.
Since January, Facebook has been putting together this team and still isn’t quite sure if they are missing out on any critical aspect.
Representational image.
Facebook in a blog post has hence announced the launch of a public consultation process that uses a survey to ask how you – as a Facebook user – would run the oversight body.
As described by Facebook’s Director of Governance and Oversight Board, Brent Harris, the survey asks a wide range of questions about how you’d shape the board, including how it chooses members, how they make decisions and its overall governance. Every participant is expected to fill out a multiple-choice questionnaire, but there is an optional essay section as well where one can voice more specific ideas.
Facebook claims that all this collected data is anonymous by default, although you can volunteer to share excerpts and receive inquiries from Facebook if it has questions.
The consultation phase only lasts for six weeks as of 1 April, so there isn’t a lot of time at hand if you do have feedback to offer. The blog also states that regular users aren’t the only ones being offered a chance to offer feedback. Facebook will be getting wide input from local experts, including academics, NGOs and civil society from across the world on how this independent body could work.
As noted by Engadget in a report, Facebook does not guarantee that this process will have a dramatic effect on the oversight board. But what is quite evident is that Facebook is determined to have a watchdog that reflects what users want. The tech giant recognises the errors made in the past and wants to ensure that those mistakes don’t happen again.
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